In normal times, a document called "UK output, income and expenditure" published by the Office for National Statistics with revised figures on how the economy did at the end of last year would be one for the economic anoraks. But these are not normal times.

The UK has not only been through one of the sharpest economic contractions in decades, it is about to have a general election in which for the first time since 1992 economic policy will be front and centre. The Conservatives will blame Gordon Brown for the mess we are in, while Labour will contend that to allow David Cameron and George Osborne to mind the shop will be to endanger any economic recovery. And so yesterday's report showing that the UK economy grew 0.3% at the end of the last year rather than the 0.1% previously estimated is a prime exhibit in this case. The easy political interpretation of that news will be that Labour have scored an early point, that Mr Brown has another bit of evidence to show that his policies are working.

Which is, to be blunt, pushing it a bit. Yesterday's figures were indeed the best bit of economic news for the government so far this year – the trouble is, they were not all that good. For a start, the only reason official statisticians increased the figures for the end of 2009 was because they found that economic performance beforehand had been even worse than previously calculated. So compared to the preceding downturn, the upturn is a bit steeper: some improvement. Even more worrying, the big boosts for the UK economy were the car scrappage scheme, the VAT cut and government investment. One does not need to be especially sharp-eyed to note that these boosts are all either now at an end or about to end. There is still precious little sign of a private-sector recovery. And, if Mr Brown holds out for a May or June election, the next GDP report will be released in April for the first three months of this year – a period in which any nascent economic growth will have been buried under piles and piles of snow. And that could be the start of the now infamous double dip in the economy.

At this election, for the first time in well over a decade, the prospects for the UK economy are very uncertain. It remains on life support and to remove that early, which is still the official Conservative position, would be very dangerous. That is hardly the most ringingly optimistic message for Labour to be voicing, but it is true. It also suggests that Labour's economic strategy needs to be about more than fire-fighting and fiscal stimulus but should also address the question of rebuilding the UK economy and reforming the finance sector. Mr Brown has to offer more than disaster management.